Tales of the Rebellion: A Star Wars Story
by EyeoftheProphet
Summary: With the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebels are on the run across the galaxy. The Empire has regrouped and its menacing navy casts a dark shadow across the galaxy. All hope seems lost as Rebel ships continue to be routed and destroyed. That is, until the Twin Stars, an amateur starship gang, make an interesting discovery on the planet of Had Abbaddon. (Between Ep.IV and V)
1. Introduction

Main Story Theme:  
www youtube com/watch? v=ZLFjl0GOLpI

Introductory Character List:

Maven

Ahil

Davina

Quizar

Ean

Sak-Dai

Umamu

Ohato

Jareef

Xhedi

Admiral Igar

Officer Ziem

Major Odi

Officer Mogan

Captain Salis


	2. Prologue

**"They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally they became heroes." - Leia Organa of Alderaan**

The fireworks glistening in the night sky above the dingy streets of Mantana'doo's festive Market District rivaled the light of the three moons that illuminated the fresh puddles of water on the boisterous streets and thickets below. A single Star Destroyer rested above quietly, hovering over the deceptively quiet mountain range nearby. Most that lived in Mantana'doo, like fourteen year old Umamu, knew that the mountain ranges were battlefields between the poor of Mantana'doo trying to scavenge and mine whatever they could to survive.

Umamu never had the chance to see the Festival of the Forest and unfortunately, today wasn't any different. Instead of enjoying the festivities in the busy city with everyone else, he was lugging around a ruck twice his size and a rifle that had enough recoil to send him into hyperspace if he ever shot it. Luckily for him and his Tognath owner, Sak-Dai, these "loot trips" as Sak-Dai called them, rarely escalated into much more than a fist fight or shouting contest between junkyard vendors. The boy shook his head as he eyed Sak-Dai up ahead, annoyed that he had fallen behind so far from him and he hadn't waited for him.

Umamu climbed up a steep incline to reach the top of the hill where Sak-Dai decided to stop for the night. He followed a putrid smell of rotting grease and deathstick residue which marked Sak-Dai's makeshift tent. The Tognath was sitting down with an electroscope half the size of his head glued to his beady white eyes looking out at a bright, yet peaceful night sky.

Sak-Dai huffed, still sitting cross legged. "Freck. The fireworks are making it hard to see."  
He got up and moved positions around until he had covered every vantage point on the hilltop. Umamu sighed. He was not looking forward to carry the massive weight to yet another mountainside.

The Tognath grumbled and huffed as he frantically reset the electroscope dials.

"You see something, right? Tell me you see something."

Umamu's lips stayed glued. He just stared at Sak-Dai with his big brown eyes.  
Umamu never had a problem holding his tongue to avoid a beating. The last thing he wanted was for the lacerations on his shoulders to open back up and have to hike carrying three times his weight while his back was on fire.

"E chuta!"

The Tognath threw his bottom down on the ground, defeated. In a sudden fit of rage, he threw the electroscope down onto the ground, making strong clanking sounds as it tumbled down the cliff.  
It didn't take Umamu's extensive expertise in repair to know that that electroscope had seen its last days. Sak-Dai prepared his tent and rolled out his natty sleeping mat, defeated.  
Before going to rest, the Tognath popped his stinky head out and looked at Umamu, who had been looking curiously through the rifle scope.

"Put that down! We go back to town before sunrise." he grumbled. Umamu set the rifle down at his feet and plopped onto the ground, backpack first. The clanking of spare parts from the ruck meant that the trip hadn't been a complete failure, but they had missed out on something big. Sak-Dai hadn't told him details, but the potential for some serious credit making was definitely there. Leading up to the Festival of the Forest, Sak-Dai had become much more agitated and proactive than usual. He was scrambling his communications, upgrading his defense droids in the shop, constantly evading Stormtrooper patrols at night to "visit friends"; whatever he was looking for tonight, it was serious business and that much Umamu knew.

Umamu rested his head on the backpack and looked up at the three moons of Had Abbaddon. He wanted to travel to all three, but he biggest one, named after the forest spirit Jia, was his dream location. The rich merchants that visited Sak-Dai's store often spoke of it as "heaven". He would pray to Jiaa, hoping one day he would make enough to leave everything behind and start anew. He looked on with curiosity, this time with the rifle electroscope. The boy peeked out towards his master's tent and quickly shouldered the rifle to look at Jiaa again.  
Curiously, something looked a little strange this time. There was a small black dot that was getting larger and larger, almost eclipsing the emanating halo of reflective light. He looked on curiously as the black dot took the form of an "X". Suddenly, the solitary "X" multiplied into five and then ten and then twenty "X"s which arranged into two separate wedges. Umamu followed them as they made their way over to the solitary Star Destroyer under the cover of fireworks. Red lights emanated from the tips of the approaching ships. The bright lights were soon followed by thundering explosions from the Star Destroyer turbolasers and the screaming of TIE fighters that instantly threw Sak-Dai out from his tent and rattled Umamu's teeth, sending them both up in the air for a second.

"What the?! Whats going on?" ached the half-asleep Tognath, scratching his head as he crawled out of his flattened tent.

The boy said nothing for a moment, in awe of the spectacle above them.

"Give me the electrosco- that rifle!" said Sak-Dai as he snatched the rifle away from the boy and stared intently through the scope. A distinctive Imperial cargo shuttle, followed by its own squadron of TIE fighters appeared amidst the battle and nearly blew out their engines trying to reach the safety of the Star Destroyer. Almost immediately, the starfighters were swarmed by the flying "X"s. The distant Star Destroyer desperately attempted to shoot volleys off and launch more fighters, but they came too late. The shuttle hurled toward the ground in a flaming, molten mess, crashing down on an embankment below them.

"Leave everything!" said Sak-Dai as he grabbed his satchel and tumbled down the hill. Umamu tried lugging his ruck, but Sak-Dai motioned violently for him to follow to the base of the mountain.

"Take the gun, wamp rat!" cried out Sak-Dai, nearly out of breath. Now lighter, the boy charged down the mountain, tripping on loose rocks and branches in the darkness, but fast enough that he had caught up to Sak-Dai.

"Keep the rifle shouldered and cover my back. We get in and out fast."

The orange and red light that highlighted the branches of the dark trees in the forest and made it a little easier to see where Umamu was stepping but tripping or carrying a heavy load was no longer his worry. They were getting closer to whatever Sak-Dai had been waiting for. And it was huge. The skies above were brighter now, not with celebratory fireworks, but with the blinding flares of superlaser cannon fire and ship blaster fire. TIEs were being blown to bits and the flying "X"s had dwindled to about three before they blasted off toward the horizon in a desperate attempt to shake off the swarm of TIEs behind them. One of the ships was trailing smoke and seemed to crash on a mountainside while the other two desperately tried evading the TIEs that erupted from out of the Star Destroyer's belly. They weren't going to make it.

As they approached the molten metal, Umamu's heart began to race as he heard aches and screams. The crashed ship was an Imperial Lambda class shuttle and whatever Sak-Dai was planning to do, it was going to lead to nothing but disaster. The failed attack by the "X"s showed that very clearly but the stubborn Tognath continued to press forward.

"This is illeg-" mumbled the boy.

"Oh now you talk!" growled the anxious Tognath before reaching the fiery crash and jumping into the fire.  
Umamu gripped the rifle with his now sweaty palms, trying to catch a breath. If Stormtroopers were to arrive on scene before Sak-Dai could make it out, it was he who was holding an illegally modified slug rifle and it would be he who would answer to the Empire's wrath.

The boy slowly raised the trembling rifle toward Sak-Dai's figure in the fire. This was his chance. An escape. Umamu held his breath as his right index finger touched the cold trigger.  
Before he could squeeze, Sak-Dai jumped out of the fire with a black box in his arms.

Sak-Dai grunted and stood there, staring at Umamu. Umamu tried pulling the trigger but his muscles were paralyzed. Suddenly, Sak-Dai grabbed the rifle out of the boys hands, and slammed him down into the ground.

"That's what I thought."

A swift kick to the ribs blew out the breath Umamu held. Before he could even land on the ground, Sak-Dai grabbed him like a rag doll and dragged him along to escape the inevitable search party.  
Crowds of scavengers crossed paths with them as they rushed toward the crash site with baskets and backpacks – anything they could to stuff valuable scrap from the still smoldering shuttle. It seemed like half of the town had arrived while the other half abandoned the celebrations to observe the aftermath.

Sak-Dai had dragged the boy in one arm and the black box in the other for about five kilometers whilst avoiding the main roads until they arrived at Mantana'doo's bustling gate.

"Move, move, , outta my way, move…" grumbled the Tognath as he nudged through the filthy crowds that were rushing over to the brightly lit tree line until finally, the boy and his master melted into the sea of people partying on the main street that connected to the Market District. Sak-Dai slowed down and let go of the boy to avoid any suspicion. He tried covering a much of the black box a possible with his trench coat.  
As he and Umamu waked back to their shop, they looked around cautiously for any Imperials.

Some of the rich off world party goers were watching the dogfight above from their segregated open-air bar seats, cheering and toasting. Crowds upon crowds of them also meandered through the streets still, despite the ongoing battle above.  
"They caught a pilot, I heard." said one of the wealthy drunkards in an exaggerated, repulsively adorned robe.  
"I bet its the Rebels." giggled one of the women next to him.  
Umamu looked at Sak-Dai looking for answers and saw that the Tognath was fidgety.  
He took off his coat and completely covered the box, picking up his pace in the process. Umamu desperately tried catching up and was doing his best to avoid being swallowed up by the mass of dancing bodies. He threw out his hands in desperation, trying to grab hold of anything as Sak-Dai's figure faded out into the Market District. If Imperials found him without paperwork and without his owner, he would be in serious trouble.  
Umamu's throat constricted with anxiety as bodies began crushing his small frame and he could no longer see more than five centimeters from his face. His eyes began to swell up and he prayed to the forest spirits to help him. He desperately tried clawing through the bodies but all that did was end up in him getting nudged between a crowd of nasty looking Rhodians and a thick metal gate.

Abruptly, as if his prayers had been answered, loud speakers from ever corner of the city began ringing.  
"All citizens, a citywide curfew is in place, effective immediately. Off-world visitors proceed to the consulate's office in the main city plaza. Failure to do so will result in severe discipline."

The announcement rang deep and reverberated through the towers, cantinas, apartments, alleys, and neighboring mountains. At an instant, wasted partygoers which laid peacefully on the ground were dragged by the semi-competent drunkards who desperately chained arms with the few sober people present, all trying to make it off the streets in large chains. Luckily, this chaos dissipated the crowds in a near instant, giving Umamu the chance he was looking for.  
Umamu ran as fast as he could toward Sak-Dais shop.  
A familiar muddy road lined with native adobe-styled buildings and heaps of dead droids intertwined with trashed ships indicated he was getting close to the Market District. He looked up at two tall, dull-red smokestacks by a large heap of twisted metal in the center out in the distance, marking Sak-Dai's makeshift metallic castle towering over the smaller shops.

The district was eerily quiet now, save for crowd of about fifty off world drunks yelling profanities and throwing bottles at local Imperial law enforcement and an AT-RCT with search lights. The gunner atop it began yelling back and into his radio, spawning more Stormtroopers  
the closer Umamu got to the bellowing smoke stacks. While he held his breath and crammed his thin body into a small slit opening in between two pieces of spacer junk that separated the main road from an alley, one of the Stormtroopers managed to catch a glimpse of Umamu.

"I see you, kid. Step outta there. Now!", ordered the trooper as he set his rifle to stun and jogged over.  
"I wont tell you again. I'm not playing games!"  
Immediately, Umamu began dragging his body at full force to the other end facing the alley, scraping his chest on the rusty metal in the process, leaving a blood stain streaking across the wall.  
The Stormtrooper saw what he was trying to do and immediately raised his rifle.  
"Get someone on the other end and catch him. TK-107, hustle it!"'

Another troop apprehending a passed out delinquent stopped what he was doing and dashed across the street, back toward the main street to reach an entrance to the alley.  
The lead trooper began firing but barely missed Umamu by a hair as he managed to wrestle free and run into the alley.  
Umamu gripped the tear on his chest as he exited the alley and ran full speed toward the smoke shacks to his left.  
He looked back and saw the Stormtrooper was at his heels with a baton. The swings made a whizzing sound in Umamu's ears and made the hairs on his back straighten up. Umamu then felt a firm cold grip on his shoulder and was immediately dragged to the ground. He saw only black and thought that the Stormtrooper managed to land a smack to his temple. He lay there, not being able to hear anything but ringing from his ears.  
When the dust settled and Umamu looked up, he saw Sak-Dai standing defiantly in front of the Stormtrooper but he could barely make out what they argued about.

"He needs documentation, regardless!" argued the Stormtrooper.

"Fine. Fine! I have the documentation in my shop. Wait here." said Sak-Dai begrudgingly.

"For complicating this, I'm inspecting your shop now."

"Aren't you complicating the situation more by-"

"Do you want me to call another patrol over here to apprehend you too?"

Sak-Dai kept his mouth shut and angrily dragged the boy into the shop, tossing him aside in a corner next to an old HK defense droid. The choking black soot accumulated from the smokestacks fell like heavy black snow as Umamu's back hit the wall. Umamu could barely make out where he was until he heard Sak-Dai's voice. He was slowly regaining his hearing.

"It must be somewhere here..." mumbled Sak-Dai, dusting off his front office's desk and rummaging through papers and holopads.  
The Stormtrooper began to lose his patience and began waking around the shop, inspecting the merchandise.  
"I don't have all night, now."  
He stopped for a moment in front of a table in the back end of the shop, straight across from Umamu, and lifted Sak-Dai's coat to reveal the black box.

The Stormtrooper inspected it for a moment and suddenly drew his rifle from the holster.  
"Wait….what the..."  
Without word, he spun around and stuck the barrel of his E-11 right in the middle of Sak-Dai's forehead.  
Sak-Dai made a strange clicking sound and raised both hands slowly. Umamu stayed hunched down and froze in place. A red bolt of light charged in the E-11's barrel, waiting to be released at any second. Behind him, Umamu could feel the heat emanating from the activated HK droid as it quietly raised its rifle up toward the Stormtrooper's head….


	3. Ch1 : Not the Usual Business

**"I always leave a head hanging on the gates of Mantana'doo. A Hutt's not the only thing you gotta worry out here in the Outer Rim. There's me." -Jareef**

The strange smells of transient aliens from exotic and uncharted star systems lingered like a thick fog amidst the rattling and clanking of cups, plates, and utensils thrashing about at the Holo Hub. Dancers waltzed mindlessly, swerving around tables and crowds as rowdy, jubilant patrons threw their credits at them in failed attempts to garner their attention. Maven sat alone on a stool facing away from the vibrant cabinet of drinks that illuminated his back. He looked on nostalgically as a sudden warm feeling in his stomach reached all the way up to his face, giving him a contagious smile. He was home.

"What'll it be?" inquired an old and craggy, yet friendly bartender from across the counter as he fiddled with a broken liquid dispenser.

"Give me the usual, Ohato," replied Maven as he spun his chair back toward the a lumbering, bubbly old Bothan. The bartender turned his head slowly and stared wide eyed at him. He dusted himself off, all while tumbling out and around the counter to give Maven a warm, albeit rough, hug that nearly popped Maven's lungs. "By the spirits, I didn't think I'd hear that voice ever again! Where've you been this whole time Maven? Chasing more ghost ships for treasure?"

Maven chuckled, recounting his many adventures. "I've been around, just not...around. But I'm onto something good this time. Something promising."

"You're a somewhat decent pirate, but a terrible businessman.", replied Ohato.

"Decent pirate? What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Well you've never turned a profit in the twenty years I've known you." chucked Ohato.

I'm serious. I haven't had a strong lead like this sense I can remember. Besides, I'm not asking for money," replied Maven as he took a swig from his drink.

"Well that a first!" smiled. Ohato. He rested his furry arm on the counter and refilled Maven's drink.  
"So you weren't serious last time you went out and almost got yourself killed? Or the second? Or the thousandth?"

"This one is worth it, seriously." retorted Maven quickly.

"Honestly, if there was anything here that could fetch a decent price, half of Mantana'doo would've already ripped it apart and sold its pieces off to them fancy diplomats at the spaceports", said Ohato.

Maven chuckled softly and shook his cloaked head. The dust that flew off of the bloody ragged hood told Ohato all he needed to know. Maven was up to no good again on another one of his adventures.  
Maven noticed Ohato's hesitation. "This job is gonna be easy money. If you'd like to join us, I'd give you a five percent cut, no strings attached."

"I'm getting too old for this stuff, Maven. Since I opened, the Holo Hub is doing good, thank the spirits." winked Ohato, walking off to attend other customers. Maven shook off the rejection and kicked his feet back to enjoy the view and reminisce. He was one of the few non-Imperial humans in the whole city, yet he didn't feel the least out of place. He patted his dusty gray tactical vest and cream colored thermal jumpsuit and poked his head above the crowd, looking around for his old friend Davina.

"You should give your old mum a visit instead of coming to this place," said Ohato as he returned with empty glasses in his paws.

"You don't want patronage?" said Maven with a laugh. "That's a first."

Ohato's stared silently with his cracked, old face for a moment. "I'm serious."

"Maybe." Maven said softly as he took down his drink and crossed his arms defensively. A somber look overcame Ohato, followed by a deafening silence.  
"Sorry, but it had to be said", said the Bothan as he hobbled back with more drinks. Maven faked a smile, but deep down is face was red hot with embarrassment.

"You see a yellow Twi'lek stop by recently? Missing half her left leeku…short…about this high?", motioned Maven to his chest. His face was still red hot as he tried to maintain his "cool-and-collected spacer" aura.

"So you're really serious about this gig, huh?" said Ohato as he scanned through all the faces at the club looking for Maven's friend.  
"Naw. Would've heard her yapping by now. Last time I saw her she was so clumsy she could barely fly her ship. Doubt she would've gone very far", chuckled Ohato.

"Yeah, try Ryloth. Took me forever to bring her with me, let alone get her to help me out" huffed Maven. "She was supposed to meet me about an hour ago."

"You're still around working in this dump old man?" A yellow, scarred Twi'lek emerged from a shadowy balcony overwatching the two recently reacquainted friends. Her roughened look drastically contrasted with what Ohato had remembered years back.

Maven mumbled, "Right on cue" as he tossed some credits onto the counter and made his way over to the balcony. "Let's catch up later", he winked back to Ohato as he walked over to the balcony.

Maven watched silently as Davina poured yet another drink into her glass. The thin Twi'lek in light blue armor caressed her single yellow leeku with one hand and swiftly gulped down her drink with the other.

"You could have walked up to me earlier to tell me you were here already.", said Maven. "Would've beat sitting alone."

"I was making sure nobody was following you." Davina attempted to whisper amid the ruckus. She looked over to Ohato with a begrudging look. "Plus, you had all the raunchy company you needed over there with that wacko religious furball anyways."

"He's the only religious wacko I trust here. Its good to have company I trust. Like you." Maven, slightly amused by Davina's characteristic clamminess. He gave off a sly smile that irritated Davina.

"Charmer." Davina rolled her eyes nervously and darted them around the sleazy bar filled to the brim with familiar faces.  
"I reserved for a party of three. You sure your friend didn't get cold feet? There's a lot of Impies now for some reason."

"Definitely not, shes a Chiss Imperial Intelligence vet."

"Oh, an Imperial. Definitely cold feet. She probably sold you out." teased Davina.

Maven let out a big huff and smiled sarcastically.

Davina giggled. "Aha. You'd get jailed long enough to see the Had system's star supernova." Maven sat silently with a fake smile and finished his glass awkwardly. He slouched in his chair and fixed the hood on his head again as he sat silently, irritated. Davina looked onwards grinning at Maven as if she had achieved a great feat.  
Besides the regulars, an unusual amount of mine security conscripts had made their way to their hangout spot from an Imperial sanctioned spice mine a ways out from town.

"These guys again?" Maven said half amused. No sooner had Maven finished another drink that a group of local thugs began harassing the mine guards and hollering at them. Any and every scumbag that called the Holo Hub their home stared down the miners as if they had stepped onto sacred territory and interrupted their afternoon ritual. Even the band began noticeably playing a little slower and off key as they waited anxiously to run off the stage with their instruments and away from the imminent brawl. The miners immediately got up out of their chairs and started yelling back and pounding on tables.

"Who's gonna knock out the most, you think?" said Maven as he swished the last of his drink down.  
Davina rapidly pivoted her head toward Maven and snickered, "Right now is not the time, knucklehead. Didn't you said you wanted to lay low?"  
Maven shrugged. "I'm not saying I'm gonna jump in on the festivities. Just saying…fifty credits the mine guards get scooped out of here again face first in a pile of Hoga poodoo."  
Davina's soft grey eyes focused on the wolf-like cartel mafioso and de-facto mayor of Mantana'doo, Jareef. For a split second, she swore the beast stared back at her.

"This the new hire?" inquired a strangely soothing and flirtatious voice from behind the booth table.

Marven looked back to face an all too familiar, beautiful blue skinned Chiss with a grey pilot jumpsuit and decorated durasteel chest plate armor. A bleached blue canvas bandoleer stuffed to the brim with gadgets and ammunition went across her chest like a royal sash. She took off the black and blue patterned shawl wrapped around her head and mouth, revealing locks of dark purple hair that fell to her shoulders.

"You sure took your sweet time, Imperial. I'm hungry." winced Davina.

Ahil contorted her face in shock, then annoyance, immediately taken aback with the straightforwardness of the Twi'lek.  
"And a rude one at that." she snickered as she set her arms akimbo.

"Anyways, Maven...we got it."

Ahil stared down Davina, slamming her backpack down on the table as a warning if she didn't keep her babbling mouth shut. The implication was obvious to Davina.  
"Way to watch the merchandise, Impie." giggled Davina, challenging the Chiss.  
Ahil stared at Davina and then at Maven silently, followed by violently rummaging through her satchel until her hands touched upon a sleek cube that protruded slightly through her backpack and opened the mouth of the satchel in front of Maven's face so only he could get a peek at the contents inside.  
"Courtesy of Quizar and Ean's bargaining skills down at the market district with Sak Dai." she added.

Davina stuffed her head into the bag without invitation, nearly pushing Maven off of his seat.  
"You fetched me out to this trash heap for a box?" whined the animated Davina to Maven as she scarfed down a crunchy pastry. Bits and crumbs fell into the backpack, prompting Ahil to push the Twi'lek out of the way with a gasp.  
Maven swirled his drink, smiling. "Its more than that. It's a treasure map."

Davina sighed. "Hoga poodoo. Don't you have better things to do, like you know, running the Twinstars? You'd cash out faster as a pirate anyways."

Maven chuckled as Davina's brow deepened in annoyance.

"I'm being serious, Maven."

"I know you are. It's just funny seeing you so worked up over nothing. I got this in the bag."

"Give this old gig the boot and move on like I did. I'd be better for ya, trust me." She gulped down another drink and looked outwards to the parade of miners that were getting the living Force beaten out of them in a losing battle against the locals.

"That's what I'm trying to do. Its just a little...complicated right now. I have my hands full with the Twinstars. We've been trying to up our raids to get creds but we're low on pilots." Maven extended his hand out to a seat at the table and waved over a servant droid to bring over a large container of libations and snacks.

"Well that's obvious." Davina poked around at the snacks before the servant droid had even set them on the table.

Maven readjusted himself and assumed a posture that meant business.  
"Anyways, both of you would get a five percent cut. Assuming you help me pull this off."

Ahil's crimson eyes glistened through the blue flashes of the bar's lighting as they crawled from the box of drinks to Maven to the gluttonous newbie. "That's it you slimy nerf herder?" said Ahil as she set down the black box on the table.  
"I could've made it four percent but I'm was feeling generous," Maven said with a stern face and piercing gaze. Ahil slowly gripped her pistol and inched her grimaced face toward his.

"I could've blown your head out a couple seconds ago but I was feeling a little generous too. Right now? Not so much."

"You're too smart to kill me." replied Maven tauntingly.  
Davina, sandwiched in between them, stared back and forth at the two as she nibbled on her snack awkwardly. "Uh...guys?"  
Ahil slowly inched further into Maven and pecked his cheek with her lips.  
"Smooth talker...I'll let you go this time.", said the Chiss softly into his ear.  
The two gave a soft chuckle as they sat back down. Davina gave a nervous chuckle, acting as if she was in on the flirtatious inside joke the whole time. Ahil licked her lips and stared down Davina. Chiss were known xenophobes, but considering how many times the Twinstars had been cheated out and put in danger under the all too trusting Maven, Ahil thought it was best to keep an eye on this specific Twi'lek.  
As she stared her down for any hidden weaponry, Ahil keenly noticed that unlike most of Davina's species, she only had one leeku. The other meaty tentacle like head tail was cut short and only reached to her neck.  
Davina responded immediately with a sarcastic gag. "You didn't mention you were into ugly blue alien girls."

"And you didn't mention you had a uni-leeku in your circle of friends." retorted Ahil angrily.  
Davina immediately stood erect and silent with a blaster in hand. "Want to say that again?"

"All talk. You've got no guts to be in the ranks of Twinstars", taunted Ahil.  
Maven instantly pushed Davina back into her seat.  
"Lay. Low.", Maven grumbled worriedly at Ahil. "Back to business, honey."

Ahil scoffed playfully. "Typical Corellian. The box cost a little more than what you would've liked but we can hit the jackpot with this thing if what you say is true," said Ahil as she lightly sipped a deep red bubbly drink.

"Let's hope its worth every credit, otherwise we'll be scraping Oomba Gomp off of a Hoga's rear," said Maven, reaching out his hand toward the small box. Before he could even touch it, Ahil tied her backpack shut.

"In al my years of decryption, I'm pretty sure this isn't a typical holocron or anything. Actually, I don't exactly know what it is.," said Ahil pensively.

"Sounds like we're starting off well." moaned Davina, still fighting a chewy fruit chunk with her teeth.

Ahil perked her head up and stared Davina down until she got the hint. "I haven't been able to crack it."

Maven, slightly irritated, broke the silence and uttered, "Well...what's the deal?"

Ahil glared at the box and then outwardly at the random characters of the bar. "This isn't the best place to be talking about this."

"I'm assuming this has to do with why Quizar and Ean aren't here yet?" said Maven irritated.

Ahil replied coolly as she retreated into her chair. "Well, sort of. We figured I should meet you guys and take them to their place."  
Maven nodded in agreement and looked around. The bar brawl would be a good distraction to get out of the nightclub if they had anyone following them.  
Davina brutishly snatched it out of Ahil's bag and examined it. "It doesn't look hard to me. Just looks like a miniature magnetic seal."

"You dimwit!" Just as quickly, Ahil tore it out of Davina's prying hands and stuffed it back in her satchel.

"Well can you open it? You should be good at this," replied Maven nonchalantly as he stared out at the hulking Jareef finish off the remaining mine guards.

"It's extremely advanced encryption algorithms. I've seen a lot of weird anomalies when it comes to alien civilization specific tech in my time, but I've never seen anything like this." Ahil looked down at her puzzle's coded locks.

"You have to crack it. We owe Jareef too much at this point. Whatever is on that map is, its gotta be worth enough to pay him back and then some." A loud clap diverted the attention of everyone, including the hardened regulars, at the bar. One of the stools have been ripped off of the ground by Jareef and proceeded to bash two miners with it at once, alternating his violent strikes between the two.  
"I don't want to end up like those mine guards," interjected Maven. The gang stared out at what was left of the outsiders strewn out around the bar floor interspersed with broken bottles and blasters. Jareef's crew began throwing out the rest of them onto the damp alleys of Mantana'doo.

"Or worse," said Davina. "Now what?"

As Maven waved down the server for the bill, Ahil looked around and noticed a small band of transient Rodians that had gained an interest in the group and the small box.  
"Maybe we should go now Maven. Lots of hungry off world folk around here," she said as she hinted at the presence of the unwelcome eavesdroppers. The crew gripped her pistols and looked back at them. The Rodians quickly dispersed their gazes and went back to their business. Maven let his gaze drift as he looked for a quick exit when he noticed Jareef staring back at him.

Jareef had obviously known Maven was there all along with the scent of anxiety, taunting him with his foul, razor sharp teeth. Maven slowly cranked out an awkward smile at him whilst breaking eye contact. He tried to keep his cool as he emptied his pocket and dropped whatever credits he had on the table without looking at the bill and motioned for the other two to follow him through the back door.

As the crew exited the club onto the rainy street, they were blinded by the bright neon lights of the downtown center's surrounding silver buildings on the main street where faces of famous wrestlers and actresses advertising the newest local fashion trends took center stage. Maven looked around and pointed his team toward the small, dizzying alleyways made of mud brick building in the merchant district. They bounced through the heavy crowd, constantly maintaining a fair balance of hiding their faces and looking through the crowd to spot any of Jareef's henchmen before they spotted them. Just as they had believed they were hidden from sight in a small convenience store, they took note of to armed thugs patrolling outside just inches away. Quickly, the three adventurers huddled together amist a sea of colorful trinkets hanging off of the shop's roof which managed to barely covered their faces.

"Alright, its better if we split," said Maven, nearly out of breath.

"You just realized that?" said a sassy Davina, worriedly poking her head out to get a glimpse at the two thugs. The three held their breath as the duo walked off into the sea of people, seemingly unaware of their presence. Davina breathed an audible sigh of relief.

Ahil hunched down and began to draw a map on her palm.  
"Look. This is where we are. Split here at the fork on the street. I'm taking the northern path out toward the thickets. Maven, take this yellow knobhead and lose them in the..."

The shop owner, a finely robed Quarren, wasn't too happy there were three loiterers crawling around her convenience store.  
"Mabben! Grabbbanara!" growled the Quarren through the slippery tentacles flopping angrily on her face. She pulled out a slug throwing shotgun out of the hidden compartment behind her desk and aimed it at Maven.

Maven got up with a cool smile as Ahil and Davina stayed low and raised the palms of their hands. "Kia. Look at my hands. I'm not taking anything." said Maven slowly. A small crowd had developed outside of the shop but was almost as quickly dispersed.  
Davina yelped in fear as a blaster pistol barrel tapped the side of her head.  
It was two of the Rhodians they saw at the cantina.

"Bata wermo!" said one of the Rhodians as he motioned for Maven and the rest to get out of the shop and put their hands up.  
Maven noticed the leader of the pack from the Holohub, a dark green Rhodian sporting a Bantha skull tattoo superimposed on his gritty face.  
"Let us walk just this once, Xhedi. Be cool."said Maven with the same smile he tried using on Kia the shop owner.  
The pimply Rhodian paid no attention and walked up menacingly with a disintegration discharger in hand. Maven defiantly kept his hand on his blaster.  
The Rhodian started getting closer and rowdier.  
"Don't try luck, Maven." garbled Xhedi, motioning Maven to look back at Kia, who still had the shotgun aimed at his back.  
The alleyway's fearful food merchants and locals swiftly emptied the muddy alleys through rat holes and hidden smuggling doors, leaving behind only fresh off-world customers stunned at their seats to enjoy the spectacle.  
Still, Maven stood defiant.  
"I thought we were cool, Kia." said Maven softly, licking his lower lip as he calculated the escalating situation.

"What are you doing?!" yelped Davina to Maven. "Put your hands up, tough guy, can't you see we're surrounded?"

"Don't be stupid Maven." grumbed Ahil from behind. "The box."

"What, you guys aren't gonna back me up?" Maven, still in his tunnel vision, suddenly widened his view.

Three Bith with blaster rifles lined a nearby rooftop while two more Rhodian gangsters appeared from behind the alleyway. Their fingers twitched on the triggers of their blaster rifles as they suddenly and swiftly stepped aside.

Begrudgingly, Maven raised his hands slowly at the sight of Jareef. The towering Jareef approached from behind and circled around them, sniffing around the three for what seemed like an eternity. Maven swore he was getting ecstasy from smelling the fear dripping off of their necks.

Jareef continued to pace around the trio, sniffing around them until he grabbed Ahil's bag and dropped it. Ahil held her breath and closed her eyes.

"I thought you were on your way to return the money you stole," whispered the Shistavanen through its teeth as he approached Maven.

Maven rolled his eyes. "I borrowed it, I didn't steal it", said Maven defiantly.

"Yeah sure. Want to say that to all your Fellowship buddies that ended up in the ground?" growled the Shistavanen.  
Maven stiffened for a second. "I'm in the process of getting it actually, promise. I'll need a couple days to get them."

"Promises don't pay the bills. Hah. Know what? I'll just tell the Empire that I'll promise to give them their tax payment when one of my associates gives me back my money. And I'll be happy to let them know who that bug toothed associate is," roared Jareef into Maven's face. Davina admired Maven for managing to keep his food in his stomach. She could smell the stench of Jareef's rotting brown teeth from where she was.

Maven made a sour face and scoffed as he added, "I didn't know the mighty Jareef was so afraid of the Empire."

"I would've never expected the great Twinstars to end up to such a low point in their career. Maybe its time to step down and give Quizar a chance since you're obviously past your prime." Jareef snapped back.

"Woah." interjected Ahil. Seductively, she added, "Calm down, big guy. You're not acting like the Jareef I usually know."  
Jareef turned around and took a good look at the crew of dirty ruffians, visibly irritated.  
"Your tricks might work on these grease balls at the nightclubs, but they don't work on me, blue wench. You'll speak when spoken to."  
Ahil pouted and crossed her hands in a huff.

Maven and the rest zipped their mouths shut and looked on in anticipation as Jareef paced to and fro, suddenly stopping within an earshot of them. His gang of thugs readied their weapons.  
"I was seconds away from having Xhedi and his friends here fry you, but I'd feel bad for your friends. Dying next to you would be an insult."  
His gang burst out in laughter until they were immediately shut up by the snap of Jareef's claws.

"You have three days. If you're even a second late on the payment, I'm doubling your debt. And if I hear you've left even a foot away from town, you and your gang of squatters will end up in an Outer Rim trash compactor."

"Do we even have much of a choice?" whispered Davina tremulously.

Maven looked back at Ahil and nodded silently. "No. We've got a deal."

Jareef revealed his signature disgusting, yellowed smile. "Go on, git my money!" he mocked and shooed them off with his sharp claws.  
The Bith and Rodians remained with their blasters drawn as the trio walked with their hands up, down the crooked alley, but not before Maven and Xhedi stared each other down in pure hatred. As they broke off from the alley, life once again breathed through the alleyway as crowds seemingly flooded the market out of thin air. Many jumped out of their smuggling tunnels, false doors, sewage pipes, and shadowy corners. Once again, Maven and his crew blended back into the crowds, this time for good.

Light droplets of water rolled down the dark red leaves of the thicket and tapped Davina's head and metal radio headset which nestled around her leeku. She followed Maven up ahead while Ahil trailed behind them both to watch Maven's from Jareef and the Twi'lek. No matter what Maven said about her, she still didn't trust her.  
She looked at the peculiar Twil'ek with interest but said nothing. Maven walked calmly up ahead, albeit he still hand on his blaster. Perhaps he was not as trusting as she thought and had his own reservations. Davina turned back and stopped. She had caught Ahil daydreaming and staring at her leeku. The scar on her scalp told her that it wasn't a birth defect. It had been torn off. But she felt no pity, the Twi'lek was by far the most annoying thing she had ever met.

"What are you looking at?" Davina snapped.

Ahil kept walking silently without a response.  
"Well?" said Davina, demanding an answer.

Ahil gave up trying to play off the awkward situation with silence. If she wanted and answer, she'd get it.  
"Where's the other one?" Ahil said with a dry, mocking smile. She took the opportunity to test the fiery, petite Twi'lek. She didn't look like she could handle herself. It was better to weed her out now rather than later when she'd become a liability instead of an asset.

"Right where you should be putting your little underhanded questions." replied Davina with an equally wryly tone. Ahil wasn't expecting to be challenged and was taken aback for a second.

"Let me give you a quick tip, newbie. Keep your mouth shut if you want to stay out of trouble. I'm surprised you're still alive."

"You're not the first Chiss I had to deal with. You're lucky Maven's here or you'd end up like them." Davina snapped back, peppering Ahil with anger.  
"You should take your own advice, by the way. I've been alongside Maven longer than you'll ever be."

Maven stopped a bit up ahead once he noticed the two were about to raise their fists at each other again.  
"Hey. Hey! Keep it professional Ahil." he said with a surprising calm, yet detached tone. Davina's tongue popped out of her devilish smile and danced along the edges of her yellow lips, teasing the flustered Ahil.

Ahil stood there silently, waiting for Maven to catch her in the act but he just kept walking.  
"Are you kidding me, Maven? You're defending this brat? You should be defending your girlfriend, not this Uni-lek."

"Uni-lek? Uni-lek?! Try me again you old flirty wrinkly blue buha!" Davina threw her gear down on the ground and rolled up her sleeves, ready for a fight.

"Yeah you heard me, buha! I'm glad I don't have that ugly sausage Uni-lek sticking out of my head!"  
Ahil hadn't even taken a breath when Davina fired back.  
"Your face looks like the back end of a Hoga after a mud bath!"

"Oh great..." whined Maven as he ran back to break them up. "I'm not here to baby sit. If you two aren't gonna get along, you can leave now! We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

"If it means working with this stupid Chiss. Alright, I'll leave." replied the sassy Davina. She walked back, not once letting her gaze off of Ahil, who laughed at her as she struggled to put all of her muddy tools back into her backpack.

"Coward. I told you Maven, she's no good. She can't hang with us!", egged on Ahil as she stood her ground.  
Davina looked at a worried Maven. His eyes had a hint of sadness and worry. She wasn't going to let her friend down.  
"Fine! I'll stay!" grumbled Davina as she let out a prolonged breath of air that had built up in her lungs from the altercation with Ahil. Her diaphragm relaxed as she collected her things and without word, continued walking. "I'm doing this for Maven."

"I bet." said Ahil angrily before heading off with Maven.

The trio continued the silent march over to the Quizar farm, free of distractions and altercations. They were too tired to care about anything else after having to climb the dark blue cliff sides that acted as a buffer between the farmland and the cityscape of Mantana'doo. The three breathed a collective sigh of relief as they cleared the lengthy thicket that eventually led to a plain of withered crops. In the distance, the silhouette of a small farm painted the horizon.

"We're almost there," said Maven, breaking the silence.

"Good." said Davina as she wiped sweat and mud from her brow. "So what's the deal with Jareef?"

"I owe him creds." replied Maven succinctly. He clearly didn't want to touch upon the subject.

Ahil rolled her eyes. "You left out the part where you used the money to buy new ships after nearly killing us all at Ondo Masta," she huffed.  
Davina's eyes widened "That's reassuring."

"The truth isn't always reassuring," Ahil snapped back.

"So it is true. Ohato isn't paying for your field trips anymore." said Davina to Maven in a moment of clarity. Maven drowned her out and kept walking but Davina noticed Ahil was getting uncomfortable. She decided not to rattle either of them with more commentary as they both seemed a bit on edge since her arrival.

As they cleared the last of the withered field, the farm was now in full view. Davina had been on Had Abaddon long enough to know that this farm was smaller than most of the other family owned ones and had shown obvious major signs of disrepair. Whoever lived here didn't do much farming anymore, that she was certain of.  
The dilapidated barn towered amid the sparse trees lining the family house and the grey alloy tops that hinted at underground hangars or grain storage silos. Maven had to watch what he stepped on as he weaved through a cornucopia of rusted out speeders, worn starship parts and gutted appliances to just get to the front door.

"Anyone else looking forward to getting filled in on this 'surprise project' the Chiss has in store for us?" said Davina to the silent crowd. She continued on babbling to herself, despite the silent response of her team.  
"Why did you even have to get involved with Jareef? You could've made your own ships with all this junk!" whined Davina as she picked up different parts together, stopping intermittently, and piecing them together as she walked.

"Times like these I wish you had left me to rot on Ryloth," Davina continued, much to the dismay of Ahil, who had begun to audibly click to hold her tongue in order to control her rage from the loquacious Twi'lek.  
Maven tried to crack a smile to relieve the tension, but his hands began to sweat with the mention of Jareef. He tightened his grip on the pistol. Davina was right. If he had not taken the loan from Jareef, they wouldn't be in this mess and they wouldn't have to deal with the "surprise" that lay behind the door of the Quizan and Ean brothers' farm. Puddles began to form around Maven's feet as the rain got stronger and heavier.

"Get up and stop touching everything!" Ahil finally exploded as she rhythmically and rapidly knocked on the door. Ahil jumped up and got back to her senses, parts still in hand.

"Who is it?" echoed a garbled voice from an intercom hidden amidst the junk.

"Open the door already, idiot!" Ahil said hastily.

"Yeah hurry up! It's raining," interjected Davina. Ahil looked back and flared her nostrils at Davina's incessant whining.

The door quickly unlocked and opened to reveal a young, pale faced teenage boy with freckles peeking out with a blaster in hand. His eyes danced around the shadows of the darkening landscape and the junkyard.

Davina threw her hands up instinctively. "Woah! Expecting company?"

"Who the heck are you?" huffed the young man in a green flight suit, vibroblade still in hand. He pointed the blade tip directly in between the Twi'lek's eyes.

Maven stepped up to calm the jumpy character. "Ean. Relax. You don't remember Davina? She's an old friend who's come to help us."

"Nope." Ean scanned the surrounding thicket with a nearby electroscope. "You should come in now." said Ean as he motioned for them to come in.  
The young man kept looking back at Maven and Davina anxiously as she put down what she pieced together outside on a nearby table. The boy looked for a second at the pieces, slightly impressed and lowered his vibroblade. "Power coupling?"

Davina was too busy looking around inside of the farm house to respond. The inside of the farm was just as dirty and messy as the outside. Mechanical parts, empty food cartons, and tools of every kind were thrown around the receiving room. As they went down to the end of the hallway, they passed Quizan and Ean's rooms. Quizan's room appeared to be the origin of the disaster, a direct juxtaposition of Ean's room full of neatly organized projects and a small shrine with offerings and incense that gave off a faint, pleasant smell. They were eventually led to the end of the hallway that had set of secret stairs emerged as Ean typed out a code on a nearby datapad in his room. A neatly organized set of medical equipment hung from racks in his room along with a small library of manuals neatly organized on a shelf next to a hammock.  
As they walked down the pitch-black set of stairs into a dark hallway that led to they could see a warm orange light at the bottom. At the bottom, Ean took a deep breath to open a large, sealed door. The crew looked at each other in anticipation.  
"You brought back that box from Sak-Dai, right?" Ean asked worriedly.

"Brought back?" said Maven with a crack in his voice.

Ahil noticed the tension in Ean's eyes as the muscles around his dark eye sockets and the bridge of his slender nose contracted rhythmically. "Yeah. It was a little damaged when we brought it in but it was just on the outside shell. All the data is stored and protected at the core...according to Sak-Dai." was all she could say to him. Ean nodded and opened the door with another code.  
Maven let out a distressed breath of air. Davina noticed the worry in his eyes.

The door slowly opened. Quizar stood with his back faced toward the door. His neck length, wavy hair flopped as he turned to face the crew.  
Quizar took a seat confidently in front of a screen in his signature red and brown jumpsuit at motioned toward Ahil's backpack.  
"Ahil tried at least twenty times to open that damn box and couldn't open it even with my codebreaker." Quizar said brashly.

"So you mean to tell me that you thought you could call the shots and make a deal like that?" barked Maven. "Don't tell me you guys bought a broken holocron."

"It's fixed. It's fixed!" Ahil winced at Maven's aggressive, animated hand movements. She knew that getting Maven angry was no easy task, but when it did happen, it rarely ended well. Still, she pressed forward as Davina looked around worriedly.

"Are you trying to reassure me or yourself?"

Davina muttered something under her breath in her native tongue and shook her head. Ean looked at her in confusion and then back at his brother, who was getting a laugh and only making everyone else angrier. Quizar gleefully admired the chaos that had ensued between Maven and Ahil.

Maven felt Davina and Ahil's judging gaze fall upon him.

His voice cracked. "My contacts said—".

"There you go, shifting the blame on someone as usual!" Quizar interrupted with resenting tone that added fuel to the fire.  
Maven sported a condescending smile toward Quizar, fully understanding what he was trying to do. "You shouldn't have wasted our savings on this piece of junk!"

"Oh this is rich!" growled Quizar as he threw his hands above his head. "This was your plan!"

"It was my plan but if the damn thing is broken, you made the stupid choice to buy it!"  
"A wrong choice is better than no choice at all. You left us without a game plan. We did what we could. For the Twinstars." said Ahil, desperately attempting to diffuse the situation.

"Yeah! If it were up to me, we'd be halfway across the galaxy, pockets full after hitting Imperial spice routes." added Quizar maliciously.

"You too Ahil? I can't hold your hands every second!" retorted Maven.  
Davina, overwhelmed by the situation and the bickering, shook her head and walked off with a glazed look.  
"You just the same old Maven. Wasting my time."

Quizar let out a malicious laugh and stared at Maven. "What a good friend you are to her. Nice to know the treatment is spread around evenly among your circle of friends." said Quizar sarcastically. "Maybe the only thing you spread around evenly!" His piercing black eyes met Davina's and with the same uneasy cackling continued, "Let me guess, five percent paycut as well?"

Maven stood speechless as he retreated backwards until his stern defiance broke down.

"F-fine. I'll talk to Sak-Dai myself.  
Davina and Ahil looked to each other and then to Ean worriedly as Quizar continued to laugh at Maven's embarrassing retreat outside.


	4. Ch2 : Arrival

**" We represent genetic purity, a beacon of light amid the darkness of degeneracy and the racially inferior beasts that humanity must share the galaxy with. We must bear the burden of progress." - Admiral Igar**

The grey flaps of a lone Imperial shuttle reflected the bright white light streaming softly from the singular star of the Had Abbadon System. The sleek shuttle approached a black lumbering Imperial Dreadnaught that appeared unlike most of the others that came off the assembly line at Fondor. The Occulter, as it was christened by others from the Imperial fleet, was named so for its unique stealth systems and concealed bridge which gave the ship the appearance of a thin spearhead. Under the guise of the title as a scientific research ship, it boasted hundreds of advanced weapons research laboratories that were personally directed by the head of research and fleet commander, Admiral Igar. After the Empire's defeat with the destruction of the first Death Star, the Empire begun to violently crack down heavily on Rebel strongholds. Luckily for Igar, the Rebellion had shifted to a defensive strategy, desperately trying to avoid the gargantuan Imperial fleets across the galaxy. This allowed his small fleet to get pulled off from the front line and instead focus on research projects around the planet of Had Abbadon, just like he had always wanted.

Igar looked out of the window of his personal shuttle, revealing his bony, thin face in the reflection. His time in the Empire had been more than enough to bleach the finely combed jet black hair he used to sport. The stress of managing the fleet, his research, and now managing annoying, corrupt diplomats had sunken his eyes into his sharp skull and cut creases into his face. He had been away for far too long on pointless diplomatic meetings that to him, had taken him away from critical research and bored him with the typical political jargon. Formalities is all it was he told himself, nothing of substance.  
He wore the Empire's light blue officer tunic representing the Alchemists, a subdivision of officers that had shown to be efficient, meticulous scientists as well as capable military leaders recruited from the far reaches of the galaxy. He sipped fine Sullustian tea as his eyes bounced around his holopad when a sudden jolt sent the hot tea flying out of the cup and onto his black leather gloves, signaling the docking of the shuttle to The Occulter.

A young, thin Imperial navy officer greeted Admiral Igar with a tight grin as he disembarked. She was his new Apprentice, recently deployed from the Alchemist academy. She had been under Igar's orders for only two standard months, but she was quickly proving her worth in the laboratory. The young officer flaunted albino white hair on peach skin and piercing grey eyes that caught the attention of Igar the day he chose her as his protegee from the graduating class.  
"Welcome home, Master." she said followed by a stiff salute.  
"I trust everything is in order, Ziem? I hope Mogan and the ISB weren't too intrusive in our research endeavors."  
"Yessir. The lab is running smoothly. We sent more subjects planetside."  
"Good. There was much work to be done and even much more to catch up on, I grow tired of babysitting these grown men on my ship. Ten years under service in the ISB and they still cannot manage a ship in the most useless, desolate corner of the galaxy without me holding their hands. Especially Mogan.", replied Igar with a jaded stare that hinted at countless sleepless nights. Before Ziem could respond, Igar motioned for the young woman to follow him.  
Imperial scientists in similar blue and white jumpsuits and Stormtrooper sentries meandered through the white alloy halls of the ship. The pristine black cape the Admiral wore fluttered majestically through the reflective corridor as he and the twin officers cut through the busy halls with purpose and into the command bridge.

On the bridge, one of the porky, petite officers of the ISB clicked his heels and saluted the towering Igar, who replied with a feigning indifference at the formality.  
"Where is the shuttle, Officer Mogan?" replied Admiral Igar robotically as he sifted through report logs that had been handed to him upon arrival.

The ISB officer continued with a squeaky voice. "The shuttle never dropped off the cargo to the destination and its wreckage was found on the outskirts of Mantana'doo. The perpetrators are still at large. We are conducting investigations as we speak and an extra garrison of troops and TIE fighters have been deployed planet side to search for the cipher."

Igar's eyes broke contact with the reports at hand and lifted his head slowly to face the ISB officer.  
"What of the Captain? It has only been a few hours since it has crashed, right?" he inquired. A faint hint of worry cracked through the Admiral's cold, bitter façade.

The ISB official took notice in the sudden tonal change and felt a lump at his throat.  
"Actually…sir." He cleared his throat and continued shakily, "The shuttle had picked up a few materials for our operations planetside and well…"

"Well?!", snarled Igar impatiently.

The officer continued rapidly, his voice now more high pitched and crackled as his mouth dried.  
"We had to track it down. It's been gone for a few d-days but we found it. The Captain however…we are doing what we can to-," he said before being cut off.

The Admiral motioned for two nearby Stormtroopers to beat the officer down to his knees with batons.  
Amid the grunts and yelps, Igar continued.  
"So you are saying that the Star Destroyer that but the way, was blatantly attacked by confirmed X-wings, was not able to secure the crash site in time nor defend the shuttle?! And you have no idea who was behind the attack?! Your ineptness will be dealt with later, Mogan!" He looked toward the two officers that followed him in. "Keep this situation quiet until we have the full picture. Getting to the officer is our main priority". Igar regained control of his composure noticing the severity of the problem.

Suddenly, as if on cue, a large bellowing blue hologram erupted from the command desk on the bridge. Vader's breathing apparatus was deafening.  
Igar was nearly blinded by the sudden bright light that reflected throughout the bridge as Vader's image took form and connection was established. The masked operators and navigators stopped momentarily at their stations to obtain a glance at the infamous right hand of the Emperor.

"Admiral. You have done well thus far in your research project."

"Thank you, Lor-"

"However! The Emperor has voiced his displeasure with the loss of the Black Cipher."

The figure's mechanical speech reverberated violently in Igar's chest as he continued, "Your inability to maintain information critical to the Empire secure has cost us dearly in the past."

The Admiral noticed his hesitance to outright mention the Death Star debauchery in which Vader himself had failed. A taste of resentment carved Igar's face from the indignation his superior was fronting, partly because he knew some of it stemmed from pressure coming from Vader's own recent failures to quell the growing Rebellion.

Vader continued, "The captain has not been found, has he?" He noticed Igar's face twitch and contort. "Do not let your personal feelings get in the way of this operation, Admiral. Recover the cipher at any cost or you may find your research handed off to a better candidate. There are many in the Alchemist Academy who are eager to take over your position."

Igar, feeling as if his integrity and loyalty had been questioned, replied "The Captain is the only one who can open that cipher aside from my higher-ranking scientific crew. If he's caught…"

"No," the black sepulchral mask retorted ferociously. "Retrieve the cipher. I will be waiting on a progress report."

Igar, slightly stunned from the verbal onslaught, bowed his head in defeat. "Yes sir!" he saluted as the hologram flickered out. Igar looked to the beaten ISB official, who stood frozen in place after witnessing the bitter verbal sparring Vader and Admiral Igar had interchanged.

"We don't have much time. If we had acted sooner, we wouldn't be in this predicament," said Igar quietly as he took off his white gloves and massaged his sweaty hands. "Assuming the cipher is not destroyed, is it safe to assume it has re-encrypted itself and gone into hibernation?"

"Y-yessir," mumbled the ISB officer. "The outer shell should still contain some rudimentary information and tracking capabilities, but the inner core should remain dormant with the critical information."

Ziem cautiously moved into the conversation.  
"Well in its current state we cannot track it with our software. We believe it may have been damaged upon impact. If it's reactivated and the central core is accessed, we can get a direct signal. Luckily, nobody can decrypt the ciphers software except our scientists and you Admiral."

"And the Captain", retorted the grimacing Admiral. "Ironically, it might be easier for us to find it if someone activates it."  
Igar nibbled on his nails as he thought of a solution.  
"I've got an idea."

"Mogan, this is your chance at redemption. Get in contact with our ISB network on Mantana'doo. Time is of the essence. And order that witness from the attack to board The Occulter. Captain Odi."  
The Admiral swiftly motioned for his two flanking officers to follow him out of the bridge. As they exited, Mogan looked around worriedly and recollected himself in front of the whole bridge that had just witnessed his scolding. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat and assumed an upright posture as he let out a huge breath.  
"You heard him. We've got work to do!"


End file.
